Holy Rome's Anniversary
by lietlover4ever
Summary: Italy's acting weird. He's not even eating his pasta! What's wrong with him? Sorry, I suck at summaries.


I sighed, picking at my pasta. Germany frowned at me.

"Italy, vhat's wrong? You're usually excited about pasta. Are you sick?" He leaned forward, feeling my forehead. "You don't feel hot. If you're not hungry, maybe you should go to bed." I gasped and looked up, my eyes widening.

"N-no, I'm fine. Hey Germany?" He grunted. I gulped before continuing. "I'm going to stay at a friend's house tonight, okay? I haven't seen him in a while, and I wanted to catch up. You don't have to come with me, his house is pretty close by." Germany frowned at me. It was pretty clear that I was hiding something.

"Vhy are you suddenly bringing this up? You should have said something sooner. Who is this friend?"

"Oh, it's just a human I met at the bar a while ago. His name's Chuck." I mentally slapped myself. _Chuck?_ But I just had to go soon. I still needed to drop by my house to pick up the sweets. He grimaced, obviously seeing through my lie. I felt bad about lying to people, especially people I'd had a puppy crush on since WW1- no, I couldn't think about that, especially not tonight. "I should wash up now, so I can go." He frowned again. If I wasn't so preoccupied, I would have scolded him for being so grumpy, but now I had no time. I had to go. I stood up and picked up his plate to wash as a way of surrendering at this mental battle we were having. I skipped to the kitchen, whistling. I was happy to leave that tension-filled room, even if it meant washing the dishes. I hummed a song I had made up a long time ago, Marukaite Chikyuu, while I did the dishes, then yelled a goodbye to Germany while putting on my shoes (Japan had taught me to always take my shoes off inside).

I smiled sadly as I started walking along the path to my house. Romano wouldn't be there. He would be with Spain, probably protesting and saying that he didn't love him while his face turned red, or eating at a fancy restaurant with the tomato loving spaniard. While I was happy that fratello was happy, I couldn't help but be a little jealous. Therefore it surprised me greatly when I saw the kitchen light on. I walked inside, and he and Spain were sleeping on the couch. It was obvious that they had gotten drunk and had fallen asleep on the couch. My brother's head was resting on Spain's chest, and he had a slight smile on his face, as though he was thinking happy thoughts. I smiled and went to my room to get them a blanket. I wasn't coming here to sleep anyway. I had only come come here to pick the sweets, although by now I knew he wouldn't come back. It may have been crazy, but the candy was like tradition by now. I went to the kitchen and grabbed the sweets I had made earlier that day and started on the long path I took every year.

It took me nearly two hours to get to the clearing, so it was nearly eight when I sat down to wait. I smiled up at the sky and prepared for another long night.

"Oh, Holy Rome." The words seemed to just slip out, but it felt good to say his name. "It's been so long. Too long. I miss you. It's been decades, and Prussia told me I should just give up, but I promised. I'll wait for you forever. It's just... when are you coming back? You have to keep your side of the bargain for it to work!" I stopped, realizing I was yelling. "Oh, Holy Rome." I told him not to try and become powerful, like grandfather, but he did anyway, and got killed. I just sat there and let the tears flow. I sat like that, just me and the sky, for quite a while before I heard a voice.

"Italia?" I turned gasping. It was Holy Rome! It had to be. I saw his intense blue eyes and his familiar golden locks and smiled. Then I looked closer and my face fell. It was just Germany.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I vas vorried about you, so I followed you. I'm sorry. But I didn't even know this place existed until now. Vait, are you crying?" I reached to my face instinctively before answering.

"No, I was just sad earlier and forgot to wipe my face. I'm sorry."

"Vhat are you doing here anyway?"

"Waiting for someone."

"Really? How rude of them to keep you vaiting so long." He reached up and gently wiped my face. "You don't have to talk about it, but I'll vait vith you if you vant." He took a seat beside me. I smiled at him and leaned against him, my eyes never leaving the horizon. I might have been here with one blond, but I was remembering another's last wave at me, before he completely disappeared from the horizon, never to see me again. I was remembering his black hat, his awkwardness, the special way he held the brush when we painted, his intense eyes, and, most of all, the way his lips tasted, when I was brought back to the present by a man with black hair and a sword calling my name.

"Etary-san! Girmany-san! Etary-san!" He finally saw us and started speed walking towards us.

"Japan? What are you doing here? How do you know about this place?"  
"I found the note that Girmany reft and decided to go to Austria-san's house to ask hem. He wourdn't terr me what was going on, but he tord me about this prace, and advised me to bring a branket." He held up a red quilt, big enough to fit the three of us.

"Vell, right now ve're vaiting for someone Italy's vaiting for." Germany and I scooted over, making room for the small japanese man. Japan sat down and handed me the quilt. It was warm and soft, and it felt nice being with my two best friends. We sat there in silence, looking up at the sky.

_Hey, Holy Rome? I promised to wait for you forever, but that doesn't mean I have to wait alone, does it?_ I knew that my old friend would be sad to hear that I had waited for him forever and never fell in love again. He would want me to be happy. I smiled, feeling as though a great burden had just been lifted from my shoulders, and leaned against Germany. We sat that way until the sun rose, and watched the sky turn gold, then red, then purple, until finally settling on a light blue. I stood up and stretched, smiling. The others followed my example, not sure what was going on.

"Goodbye, love. I'll be back next year." I turned my back on the horizon, holding hands with my two best friends in the whole wide world.

"Now we should make pasta!"


End file.
